Wrench clip



Nov. 28, 1939. A. T. MURRAY 2,181,764

WRENCH cur Filed Nov. 23, 1938v INVENTOR ART/Ill? I. Maw/1r TTORNEYS Patented Nov. 28,1939

UNITED STATES WRENCH CLIP Application November 23, 1938, Serial No. 241,964

2 Claims.

This invention relates to wrench clips or holders particularly adapted to hold in assembled relation stacks of wrenches during storage and sale. One object of the invention is to provide a clip of this general character in which the stack of wrenches will be held in assembled relation even after the clip is opened to permit their removal. A further object is to provide such a clipin which the wrenches will be held in assembled relation by spring pressure in such a manner as to be unafiected by the closure of the clip. Additional objects will appear from the following description and claims.

Referring to the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a stack of wrenches with the clip in place but cut away in median section;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the clip looking from the right in Fig. 2 and showing the movable side of the clip closed; and

Fig. 4 is an end view of the closed clip with the wrenches removed.

The clip is composed of a base it having at one side an upright portion suitably slanted or formed to contact and hold in alignment the edges of the shanks l2 of a set or stack of wrenches. As will be clear from Figs. 1 and 2, the Wrenches are stacked so that their heads it are in contact, thus leaving the shanks l2 somewhat spaced apart. The upper portion of the upright member II is formed with a central spring clip !4 suitably curved so that as shown in Fig. 2 it may exert spring pressure upon the uppermost side of the shank of the top wrench in the stack. This spring finger is bent upwardly at its forward or free end so that there will be no interference with the introduction of the topmost wrench. The upright member H also carries two end lugs 45 each having a central groove It for a purpose to be described. As is shown in Fig. 1, the fingers 15 are separated from the spring finger l i by slots H which prevent the action of one set of fingers from afiecting the position or action of the other.

Along the edge of the bottom member l9 remote from the upright member H is a hinge 18 carrying a second upright I9 suitably slanted or shaped to engage the edges of the wrench shanks on the side opposite to the member ll. The top of this movable member i9 is bent over so as to extend across the fingers l5 and has a central hump 20 for engagement within the grooves H5. The top portion of the movable member is preferably provided with a beaded end 2! to facilitate its manual operation and with a bowed portion 22 to increase its resiliency.

It should be particularly noted that even with the movable wall l9 swung down as in Fig. 2, the spring finger I 4 still holds the stack of wrenches in place. This is of particular value in assembling the wrenches within the clip, as the spring finger holds the wrenches while the movable wall is being moved into closed position. The independence of the fingers i l and I5 is also of importance in this particular as the operation of the holding finger It is unafiected by whether or not the hump 20 is in place in the groove it.

I claim:

1. A clip for holding sets of wrenches comprising a wrench set retaining member having a bottom to underlie the shank of the lowermost wrench of the set, an upright member for engagement with the edges of the shanks of the wrenches, and a spring finger yieldably engaging the top of the shank of the uppermost wrench of the set to compress the set yieldably against the bottom; a second member hinged to the retaining member along that edge thereof remote from the upright for engagement withthe opposite edges of the shanks, and a pair of yieldable interengaging snap members one carried by the retaining member and extending over the uppermost wrench of the set independently of the spring finger and one carried by the hinged member, said snap members having their interengaging portions located vertically above said uppermost wrench and functioning to hold the hinged member in engagement with the edges of the shanks, said snap members being independent of said spring finger whereby the grip of the latter on the wrench set will not be disturbed by the disengagement of the snap members, and an extension of the hinged member extending beyond the said interengaging portions to a point 'clear of the retaining member to facilitate disengagement of said interengaging portions.

2. A clip for holding sets of wrenches comprising a wrench set retaining member having a bottom to underlie the shank of the lowermost wrench of the set, an upright member for engagement with the edges of the shanks of the wrenches, and a spring finger yieldably engaging the top of the shank of the uppermost wrench of the set to compress the set yieldably against the bottom; a second member hinged to the retaining member along that edge thereof remote from the upright for engagement with the opposite edges of the shanks; a pair of grooved snap members supported by the retaining member laterally separated and spaced from the spring finger, and a snap member carried by the hinged member in position to engage said first mentioned snap members without engaging the spring finger.

ARTHUR T. MURRAY. 

